U.S. patent application number 10/333494 was filed with the patent office on 2003-10-02 for method for putting through at least one call having a predeterminable priority.
Invention is credited to Henz, Volker.
Application Number | 20030185372 10/333494 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 7650593 |
Filed Date | 2003-10-02 |
United States Patent
Application |
20030185372 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Henz, Volker |
October 2, 2003 |
Method for putting through at least one call having a
predeterminable priority
Abstract
The invention relates to a method for putting through at least
one call having a predeterminable priority (cpr) to at least one
subscriber connection (TA1 n) allocated to at least one call
distribution system (CDS). The distribution of the at least one
call which is to be put through to the group (CDS) is controlled
according to the respective priority (cpr) thereof. The inventive
method represents a useful extension of the MLPP standard in the
direction of the call centre, the triggering of calls being avoided
by calls having a higher priority.
Inventors: |
Henz, Volker;
(Unterschleissheim, DE) |
Correspondence
Address: |
McCormick Paulding & Huber
CityPlace II
185 Asylum Street
Hartford
CT
06103-4102
US
|
Family ID: |
7650593 |
Appl. No.: |
10/333494 |
Filed: |
January 21, 2003 |
PCT Filed: |
July 27, 2001 |
PCT NO: |
PCT/DE01/02855 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
379/207.02 |
Current CPC
Class: |
H04M 3/5233
20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
379/207.02 |
International
Class: |
H04M 003/42 |
Foreign Application Data
Date |
Code |
Application Number |
Jul 28, 2000 |
DE |
100 36 902.2 |
Claims
1. A method for putting through at least one call (call) having a
predeterminable priority (cpr) to at least one subscriber line (ta1
. . . n) arranged in at least one communication network (KN) and
associated with at least one group (CDS), the at least one group
(CDS) being associated with at least one call distribution system
controlling the distribution of the call, characterized in that the
distribution of the at least one call (call) to be put through to
the at least one group (CDS) is controlled in dependence on its
respective priority (cpr).
2. The method as claimed in claim 1, characterized in that the
subscriber lines (ta1 . . . n) are in each case connected to at
least one operator terminal (OP1 . . . n) representing a
workstation for operators or agents of the call distribution
system.
3. The method as claimed in claim 2, characterized in that at least
some of the operator terminals (OP1 . . . n) conduct at least one
call from and/or into the communication network (KN), in that the
call distribution system selects at least one free operator (OP1 .
. . n) and puts through the at least one call (call) to be put
through to the at least one selected operator (OP1 . . . n), and in
that information representing the priority (cpr) of the call (call)
is transmitted to the at least one operator terminal (OP1 . . .
n).
4. The method as claimed in claim 2 or 3, characterized in that
operator-oriented priorities (opr1 . . . n) of the respective
operators or operator terminals (OP1 . . . n) of the at least one
group (CDS) are determined, the operator-oriented priority (opr1 .
. . n) of an operator (OP1 . . . n) being determined by the
priority of the call conducted by an operator (OP1 . . . n), or in
the case of a number of calls simultaneously conducted by an
operator (OP1 . . . n), by the current call having the highest
priority, in that, in the case where all operators (OP1 . . . n) of
the at least one group (CDS) are busy, the call distribution system
determines and selects at least one operator or operator
operator-oriented priority (opr1 . . . n) than the priority (cpr)
of the call (call) to be put through, and in that information
indicating the higher priority of the call (call) to be put through
is transmitted to the at least one selected operator (OP1 . . .
n).
5. The method as claimed in claim 4, characterized in that the
higher prioritization of the call to be put through is indicated to
the at least one selected operator (OP1 . . . n), in that at least
one of the at least one call conducted by the selected operator
(OP1 . . . n) and having a lower priority than the call (call) to
be put through is released or parked or held, and in that the at
least one call (call) to be put through is put through to the
selected operator (OP1 . . . n).
6. The method as claimed in claim 4 or 5, characterized in that at
least one queue (WS) for the call (call) to be put through is
allocated to the at least one group (CDS), in that, if an operator
(OP1 . . . n) currently having a lower operator-oriented priority
(opr1 . . . n) than the priority (cpr) of the call (call) to be put
through is not determined, the call (call) to be put through is
held in the at least one queue (WS).
7. The method as claimed in claim 6, characterized in that the call
(call) to be put through is inserted in the at least one queue (WS)
in dependence on its priority (cpr).
8. The method as claimed in one of the preceding claims,
characterized in that during the forwarding of the at least one
call (call) put through to the selected operator (OP1 . . . n) by
the selected operator (OP1 . . . n), at least one further call
having a further allocatable priority is set up to the at least one
destination arranged in the communication network (KN), and in that
the call (call) to be forwarded is put through to the destination
via the at least one further call.
9. The method as claimed in claim 8, characterized in that, during
the forwarding, the priority (cpr) of the at least one call (call)
put through to the selected operator (OP1 . . . n) is allocated to
the at least one further call by presetting.
10. The method as claimed in claim 8 or 9, characterized in that,
for the call put through to the destination via the further call,
the maximum value of the priority of the call to be forwarded and
the further priority of the at least one further call is
allocated.
11. The method as claimed in one of claims 4 to 10, characterized
in that the operators (OP1 . . . n) determine and centrally store
the current operator-oriented priorities (opr1 . . . n) or the
current priorities of the calls conducted by the individual
operators (OP1 . . . n) in the communication network (KN) at
predeterminable time intervals and/or during the performance of
predeterminable operational and/or switching actions.
12. The method as claimed in one of claims 2 to 11, characterized
in that in each case an operator-specific priority (mlev1 . . . n)
is allocated by predetermination to the operators (OP1 . . . n), in
that the corresponding operator-specific priority (mlev1 . . . n)
is allocated to a further call set up into the communication
network (KN) by an operator (OP1 . . . n).
13. The method as claimed in one of the preceding claims,
characterized in that the priorities which can be allocated to the
calls (call) and to the further calls and to the operators or
operator terminals (OP1 . . . n) are designed in accordance with
the ISDN-compliant supplementary service "multi-level precedence
and pre-emption service" (MLPP).
Description
DESCRIPTION
[0001] Method for putting through at least one call having a
predeterminable priority.
[0002] Using switching systems used in current communication
networks, such as, for example, the EWSD switching system by
Siemens AG, the call distribution systems or call centers used in
these systems provide very efficient solutions which implement a
multiplicity of features associated with automatic call
distribution on the basis of task groups. These task groups
represent, for example, personal activity profiles--also called
skills--of operators of the call distribution system and also task
distributions which are staggered throughout the day or modified
for a short time. Furthermore, these call distribution systems
support the inclusion of recorded announcement machines--e.g. for
an automatic greeting or for charge announcements or of automatic
store-and-forward machines--e.g. for automatically transferring a
call after a directory inquiry. Furthermore, external databases can
be tied into the call distribution system (CDS) via the support
application server (SAS), for instance in order to forward a call
to a person regularly dealing with the caller or to display the
relevant customer records immediately to the operator at the
corresponding communication terminal on the basis of the directory
number of the caller.
[0003] The workstations for operators or agents, used in call
distribution systems, also called operator terminals in the text
which follows, can be connected to the switching system via
subscriber lines of different designs. For example, the subscriber
lines can be designed
[0004] as analog subscriber line and/or
[0005] as ISDN basic access and/or
[0006] as ISDN primary multiplex access and/or
[0007] as a subscriber line implementing an xDSL transmission
method and/or,
[0008] as cordless subscriber line for connecting a cordless
communication terminal, and/or
[0009] as mobile-radio-compliant subscriber line for connecting a
mobile wireless communication terminal.
[0010] The subscriber lines allocated to a call distribution system
can be arranged in a number of switching systems arranged in the
communication network. Furthermore, the subscriber lines can be
arranged in different communication networks--e.g. in the landline
network and in the mobile radio network.
[0011] As long as free operators or agents who can deal with the
tasks of a task group are still available for calls arriving at a
call distribution system, the incoming calls or tasks are put
through to the free operators or agents directly associated with
this task group. If no free operators or agents are available for
the required task group, the incoming tasks or calls are placed
into a queue allocated to the respective task group. The queued
calls remain in the respective queue until a suitable operator or
agent can process them.
[0012] Within current communication networks or telephone networks,
signaling for the setting up and clearing down of 64-kbit payload
channel connections for controlling ISDN services takes place on
the basis of the ITU-T signaling system No.7--also called SS No.7.
The ISDN services provided by ISDN-compliant communication networks
are subdivided into normal ISDN services and supplementary
services. According to ITU-T, the supplementary services are
divided into eight groups:
[0013] directory-number-related supplementary services,
[0014] destination-related supplementary services,
[0015] supplementary services for call completion,
[0016] supplementary services for the participation of a number of
subscribers,
[0017] supplementary services for user groups,
[0018] supplementary services for the transmission of additional
information, and
[0019] supplementary services for mobility and modification.
[0020] The supplementary service for user groups--also called
"community of interests supplementary services" includes all
supplementary services which can be jointly used by users (groups).
The feature "multi-level precedence and pre-emption service" (MLPP)
represents a supplementary service which can be used jointly by
users (groups). The multi-level precedence and pre-emption service
(MLPP) supplementary service provides the corresponding service
users with call processing with a number of priority levels. The
MLPP supplementary service is provided to the service user on
application and can relate either to the directory number and/or to
the service. For example, in an MLPP supplementary service, calls
with higher priority (a call with a higher priority than the
priority of the call previously received) are diverted at the
service user or B party to a predetermined destination--e.g. C
party or inquiry station--if the uninterruptible service user is
busy or does not answer.
[0021] As an alternative, however, a priority call or a call with
higher priority can also force an interruption in an active call,
also called forced release, in which
[0022] each party of the active call is informed about the forced
release,
[0023] each called interruptible subscriber or B party has the
possibility of confirming the forced release, or
[0024] in the case of a lack of resources, i.e. in the case of a
lack of available payload or B channels or in the case of a lacking
number of simultaneously conducted calls--the call with the lowest
priority is released.
[0025] The multi-level precedence and pre-emption service (MLPP)
feature is mainly used in military networks.
[0026] The MLPP supplementary service is currently only defined by
the ITU-T--ITU-T: I.255.3: Integrated Services Digital Network
(ISDN), General Structure and Service Capabilities, Multi-Level
Precedence and Pre-emption Service (MLPP), ITU-T, Geneva, September
1990. The standard for the MLPP supplementary service provides that
an incoming prioritized call releases a lower prioritized call on
the B party side, i.e. the called subscriber or B party must accept
the incoming prioritized call; he is not able to save the old call
or the previous connection. However, this forced release in the
MLPP supplementary service cannot be used, or makes no sense, in
the environment of a call center since the call having a particular
priority or the call having a predetermined priority is addressed
to a group of operators or agents of the respective call center and
may have to be inserted into a queue.
[0027] The invention is based on the object of improving the
treatment or processing of calls having a predetermined priority
and having to be put through in the environment of a call
distribution system. The object is achieved by a method according
to the features of the preamble of patent claim 1 by means of its
characterizing features.
[0028] In the method according to the invention, at least one call
having a predeterminable priority is put through to at least one
subscriber line arranged in at least one communication network and
associated with at least one group, the at least one group being
associated with at least one call distribution system controlling
the distribution of the call. The essential aspect of the method
according to the invention consists in that the distribution of the
at least one call to be put through to the at least one group is
additionally controlled in dependence on its respective
priority.
[0029] The method according to the invention for putting through
calls having a predeterminable priority represents an extension of
the MLPP standard in the direction of call distribution systems or
call centers. The essential advantage of the method according to
the invention consists in that, whilst retaining the MLPP
signaling, a behavior in the call-distribution-system-controlled
putting-through of prioritized calls is defined which provides for
a useful application of call prioritization according to the MLPP
standard. Using the method according to the invention, a
putting-through of prioritized calls is achieved in which a forced
release of existing calls is not required.
[0030] Further advantageous embodiments of the method according to
the invention can be found in further claims.
[0031] In the text which follows, the method according to the
invention is explained in greater detail by means of a block
diagram. The block diagram shows a switching system LE, arranged in
a communication network KN, in which a call distribution system CDS
is arranged. The call distribution system CDS is associated with a
memory device MEM and a queue WS. A certain number of agents or
operators or operator terminals OP1 . . . N, associated with the
call distribution system CDS, is connected to the call distribution
system CDS via a number of subscriber lines TA1 . . . N arranged in
the switching system LE. The call distribution system CDS provides,
for example, a global information service, e.g. "national
information" or "international information", in which the different
information services can be dialed under a particular service
directory number sdn. The individual operators OP1 . . . n of the
call distribution system CDS are in each case allocated an
operator-oriented operator priority opr1 . . . n by means of which
the switching and/or operational behavior of the respective
operator or operator terminal OP1 . . . n in the case of calls
having a particular MLPP priority, or MLPP calls, arriving at the
call distribution system or call center CDS, is determined. In the
block diagram, a call arriving at the switching system LE and
having a predetermined MLPP priority cpr, with a destination
directory number sdn specifying the call distribution number CDS as
destination, is illustrated by way of example by an arrow call
(sdn, cpr).
[0032] An operator OP1 . . . n of the call distribution system CDS
can simultaneously process one or more calls having different MLPP
priorities at a particular time--e.g. setting up a three-party
connection or a large conference involving a number of parties. The
operator priority opr1 . . . n in each case current at this time is
determined by the MLPP priority of the call currently conducted via
the operator OP1 . . . n. In the case of a number of simultaneous
calls conducted via an operator OP1 . . . n--e.g. during the
setting-up of a large conference with twenty parties--the current
operator priority opr1 . . . n is determined by the call with the
highest MLPP priority currently conducted or processed by the
operator OP1 . . . n, using only MLPP priorities of active
calls--i.e. parked calls, for example, are not assessed for
determining the current operator priority.
[0033] According to the MLPP standard, the MLPP priority allocated
to a call can have a value between 0 and 4, the value 0
representing the highest priority and the value 4 representing the
lowest priority.
[0034] In the memory device MEM associated with the call
distribution system CDS, a table otab having a number of table
entries tab1 . . . n is arranged, in each case operator-oriented
information being stored in each table entry tab1 . . . n. Thus,
among other things, the current operator-oriented operator
priorities opr1 . . . n and other information representing the
state of the individual operators OP1 . . . n are stored in the
respective table entries tab1 . . . n, not shown.
[0035] For the further exemplary embodiment, it is assumed that the
call arriving at the call distribution system CDR is to be
forwarded to a suitable agent or operator OP1 . . . n of the call
center CDS. In the text which follows, the method according to the
invention for putting through a call (call) having a predetermined
priority cpr is explained in greater detail.
[0036] According to a first exemplary scenario, it is assumed that
all operators OP1 . . . n associated with the call distribution
system CDS are busy. In this case, the call arriving at the call
distribution system CDS is put through to the agent OP1 . . . n
having the currently lowest operator priority opr1 . . . n, i.e.
the call is put through to the agent currently processing a call
having the lowest MLPP priority. During this process, an implied
"call waiting" is carried out, i.e. the call distribution system
CDS puts the incoming call through to the respective agent OP1 . .
. n without payload channel or B channel. The incoming call is
indicated to the selected agent at his operator terminal OP1 . . .
n, for example by means of suitable information on an operator
interface associated with the respective workstation of the agent
OP1 . . . n, not shown, with an unambiguous indication of the
higher prioritization of the incoming call. The indication
indicating the highest prioritization provides the agent OP1 . . .
n with a number of possibilities of processing the incoming call.
For example, the call or calls currently routed or switched via the
selected agent OP1 . . . n can be released or parked or held by the
agent in order to accept the incoming call with higher
priority.
[0037] The calls (call) arriving at the call distribution system
CDS are put through, inter alia, in dependence on the current
operator priorities opr1 . . . n stored in the table tab. The table
entries tab1 . . . n are advantageously searched in ascending order
of the stored operator priorities opr1 . . . n. An incoming call
with the priority cpr is transferred to the agent OPR1 . . . n
processing a call having, for example, the lowest MLPP
priority.
[0038] As an alternative, a table entry tab1 . . . n is determined
to which the following relation applies:
[0039] opr1 . . . n<cpr,
[0040] i.e. the next-best operator OP1 . . . n is determined who
has a lower operator priority opr1 . . . n than the priority cpr of
the call to be put through.
[0041] If the call distribution system CDS cannot find a free, i.e.
suitable, agent or operator OP1 . . . N having a current operator
priority opr1 . . . n which is lower than the MLPP priority cpr of
the incoming call, the incoming call is inserted into the queue WS
of the call distribution system CDS in dependence on the MLPP
priority cpr. Advantageously, the queuing of the calls to be put
through takes into account the respective MLPP priorities, i.e. the
higher the MLPP priority cpr of the incoming call, the lower the
waiting time of the call in the queue WS.
[0042] To keep the operator priorities opr1 . . . n stored in the
respective table entries tab1 . . . n updated, the individual
operators OP1 . . . n transmit the in each case current operator
priorities opr1 . . . n or the in each case current status of the
operator OP1 . . . n to the call distribution system CDS during
certain switching and/or operational actions, and store these
correspondingly in the memory device MEM. Examples of relevant
actions are:
[0043] acceptance of an incoming call:
[0044] the MLPP priority of the accepted call is transmitted to the
call distribution system CDS,
[0045] outgoing, second call:
[0046] the highest MLPP priority of the calls currently conducted
is transmitted to the call distribution system CDS,
[0047] the call is parked:
[0048] the agent is free, no MLPP priority is stored in the memory
device MEM,
[0049] the call is deparked:
[0050] the highest MLPP priority is transmitted to the switching
system LE (in the case which two or more calls are conducted via
one operator OP1 . . . N).
[0051] To ensure optimum operation of the call distribution system
CDS, the respective agent OP1 . . . n of the call distribution
system CDS must be assigned the authority to process incoming calls
with the highest MLPP priority cpr.
[0052] In the calls accepted by the operators OP1 . . . n and to be
forwarded, the individual operators OP1 . . . n of the call
distribution system CDS can set up additional or further calls into
the communication network KN, and the calls additionally set up can
also be assigned in each case a particular MLPP priority by the
operators OP1 . . . n. In this context, the MLPP priorities
assigned to the calls additionally set up can also have higher or
lower values than the value of the MLPP priority cpr of the call
(call) accepted and to be forwarded. As an alternative, the call
additionally set up can be automatically allocated an MLPP
priority, the value of the MLPP priority cpr of the incoming call
(call) also being automatically allocated with the call
additionally set up.
[0053] After the additional call has been successfully set up, the
call to be forwarded is forwarded to the destination via the
additional call. This is achieved by combining the call to be
forwarded with the additional call. The switching process is also
called "call transfer". If, during the call transfer, two calls,
i.e. incoming and outgoing call having different MLPP priorities,
are combined, the call combined or put through is automatically
allocated the value of the higher MLPP priority.
[0054] To ensure consistency between the call arriving, or the
incoming and the outgoing call, conducted via an operator OP1 . . .
n, the network indicator and the network domain both of the
incoming call and of the outgoing call must have the same values.
To ensure this, the network indicator and the network domain of the
incoming call is also used for setting up the outgoing call for
setting up the second and every further call--for example for
setting up telephone conferences.
[0055] If an agent OP1 . . . n sets up an outgoing call with a
particular MLPP priority without there being an incoming call, an
MLPP priority mlev1 . . . n defined as operator-specific default
value is advantageously used for the outgoing call. The
operator-specific MLPP priority mlev1 . . . n defined by default
for each operator is advantageously stored in the respective
records tab1 . . . n of the memory device MEM associated with the
call distribution system CDS.
[0056] According to a further exemplary scenario it will be assumed
that, in the case of a call arriving at the call distribution
system CDS, suitable agents OP1 . . . n of the call distribution
system CDS are free. In this case, the incoming call is delivered
to a free agent OP1 . . . n and, at the same time, information
about the MLPP priority cpr of the incoming call is displayed to
this agent.
[0057] Using the method according to the invention, calls having a
predetermined MLPP priority cpr can be processed in the environment
of a call distribution system or call center CDS. The method
according to the invention thus represents a meaningful extension
of the MLPP standard in the direction of a call distribution system
or call center. The method according to the invention prevents
other calls without or with a lower MLPP priority being lost by a
network operator due to the putting through of calls having a
particular MLPP priority. Using the method according to the
invention, the quality of services provided by a call distribution
system CDS can continue to be guaranteed. Using the method
according to the invention, an operational and switching-related
behavior which provides for meaningful application of call
prioritization is defined in the putting-through of calls having a
predetermined MLPP priority, whilst retaining the MLPP signaling.
In particular, the releasing of existing calls by calls with high
priority is prevented in the environment of call centers, the
prioritized calls being put through, nevertheless.
* * * * *